Energy-rich electron beams for the production of synchrotron light are used for research purposes within physics and industry. Such electron beams are produced in an accelerator, usually a synchrotron, from which the beam is taken to a separate storage ring, usually having a circumference of more than 30 meters and which is situated in a place separate from the accelerator. The electron beam is stored in the storage ring with the aid of electromagnets and magnetic lenses. An apparatus of the kind described in the introduction is the BESSY plant in Berlin, which permits storage of an electron beam with the energy of 800 MeV and with a beam current of over 250 mA. The BESSY synchrotron and its separate storage ring permits the generation of so-called synchrotron light, i.e. light which contains wavelengths in a continuous spectrum through the visible range and down to 17.6 .ANG.. Other similar plants exist.
The disadvantage of the known apparatus is the large and voluminous storage ring, which makes the costs for a plant of the kind described in the introduction forbiddingly high.